The Compound Darkness
by Jiece Reno
Summary: There is a darkness growing in Hueco Mundo. It is larger than anything ever seen. The Vasto Lorde have been tending it for years, priming it for an attack on Soul Society. With spies everywhere, Yamamoto sends the last person he can trust.
1. Chapter 1

Well, this is a story concept that I've been throwing around for a while, so tell me what you think.

Chapter One

The festivities outside were getting louder. You could hear the young ones celebrating from the other side of the wall, even if they had lost sight of why it was they were celebrating. Nowadays, people just put on fake hollow masks and ran around while fireworks went off on "Hollow Day." Flirting teenage boys would get bolder now than on any other day (personally, he thought it was because of the masks), and many of them woke the next morning to find that they were men. Fortunately, dead people can't have babies, so pregnancy never has been and never will be a problem.

The cheers increased as the fireworks reached their climax, and the oohs and ahhs were so loud they felt almost palpable. Sake was passed around as older, more experienced shinigami showed the trainees from the academy Hollow battle scars and listened to warriors like Kenpachi, Shunsui, and even Jushiro brag of monstrous battles where escaping was impossible and survival had been a fools dream.

The excitement was high in several areas, as nearly every division held an exhibition tournament, which raked in funds every year on gambling. Fifth seats and above were not allowed to participate, and in the lower ranks there began to be a blurring of skills, so it was not uncommon to have an upset such as a 20th seat beating a 6th seat, though the most impressive so far was having unseated shinigami Rukia Kuchiki beat 8th seat Nouta Bokame. The tournaments actually had a deep root in history, because on this day it was decided by the victor who was the most useful in a fight. Now it had degraded into a simple tournament to show off new moves that one had learned.

Yamamoto scoffed behind his glass window as he looked at the deplorable scene below him. They do not even remember the reason for the celebration anymore, let alone the hollow masks. They do not remember the honored shinigami who fought for their lives on the endless plain of desolation that was and is called Hueco Mundo. Not many lived through that battle, and the fifteen who did are now dead. The only one who remembers them and their brave stand now, is Yamamoto. But he dare not tell anyone. The panic would be horrible, uncontrollable. And there was always the chance of spies. Always.

The power was growing. He could feel it deep within himself, in the sixth sense of his sixth sense. It warned him by the tightening in his chest, by the shortness in his breath, by the twisting in his gut. These signs told him 'Look out, it's coming. Trust no one. You are by yourself in this battle. Stop it, before all is consumed.' He simply couldn't let that happen. He would resist it any and every chance he got.

But the way things were going, the chances were rapidly vanishing. It all started when the Central 46 began to lean towards corruption. Suddenly he found himself unable to leave the Seireitei for fear of them seizing control in his absence. Then came the spies.

The first spy was very skilled, although she hid her abilities wisely, in order to not give away her position. Still, she couldn't help but appear a little strong, and had attained a 3rd rank seat by the time he noticed her. Still, her presence was not completely unprofitable, as it had made him find a single ally throughout this mess, someone on which he could fully rely.

He discovered this man as an ally shortly after the death of the spy, Miyako, and her husband, Kaien Shiba. While investigating the cause of Kaien's death, Yamamoto found where that hollow came from, or rather, who sent it. More importantly, Yamamoto had discovered why it had been sent. Kaien's death, it turns out, had been an unfortunate accident, one that made the hollow's creator very sad. He had liked Shiba.

Speaking of which, he was now seated behind Yamamoto, looking mournfully at an old picture of Shiba. "Why did that happen, Yamamoto?" the man asked, as though the near-omnipotent general of Soul Society actually knew the answer to that question. Regardless, Yamamoto responded.

"A necessary evil, I must say. Incredibly unfortunate, he was a genius. Would have made a teriffic captain, maybe even taken my job one day. No point in mourning now, we have no choice but to move foreward." Yamamoto turned from looking out the window at a drunk (as usual) Shunsui to face his last ally in the entire Soul Society. The old man smiled sadly at him, then adopted the stone-like face that he always had. "But we must move quickly. It is gaining on us, rapidly growing deep below were he was locked away. You have your orders. Carry them out as fully as you can."

The other man just stared at the ground. "What if that's not enough, old friend," he said softly, "what if my strength is not enough? I was not able to save one man who trusted me completely. I should have-"

"It's in the past now," said Yamamoto sharply. "You cannot change the past, no matter how you try. If anyone could, it'd be Kisuke, and we _know_ he can't, otherwise, he'd change _that_."

"I've never had the chance to ask him, how exactly does he know?"

"Same as us, his master was one of the fifteen. Trouble is, he went crazy halfway though the training, so now Urahara-san is just a little bit crazy himself. Though it may just be how he is, no blame cast to anyone. No denying the facts though. None are crazy enough to sleep with a killer minx like Shihouin except for him."

The man smiled from his position in the shadows. It was refreshing to learn that one's master had a sense of humor. It made him seem more human. "And besides, you are without a doubt the strongest warrior in the entire court guard," Yamamoto continued. "Complete mastery in every area is no mean feat! You are the best man for this job."

The man rose from his seat and shuffled to the door. As he put his hand on the door to open it, he tensed his fingers against the smooth paper. "There is one thing I wished to ask you sir, if I may."

"Of course," said Yamamoto, already back to watching the (surprisingly) drunk Jushiro perform a drunk dance with a (also surprisingly) blushing Retsu Unohana.

"May I take some companions with me?" the man questioned, also not bothering to turn around. "I have two men that I trust completely, if you could allow them to accompany me, I believe it will go smoother."

"Just don't tell them the whole story if you can't help it. It doesn't matter who you're taking, I don't trust them. I will handle any problems, just follow the plan"

"Thank you sir," said the man, "and good luck." The light flashed on his glasses as he turned to bow before he left.

"And good luck to you as well, Aizen." muttered Yamamoto. "Kami knows you'll need it."


	2. Chapter 2

Okay. I still believe that my writing is sub-par, but by damn it, this needs to be written. I mean, Naruto fics even have Orochimaru being a good guy.

In more important news, I am wondering how the readers want me to skew the original storyline. Shall Ichigo be taken to Hueco Mundo? Will Gin actually be a good guy too? And most importantly, what do **you** think the secret power of Hueco Mundo is?

But I digress. And now, chapter two.

CHAPTER TWO

Aizen Sosuke sighed as he sat in the dead silent hall of the Central 46 Chambers. Sometimes he considered purposefully watching the release of his own Zanpakuto so that he could hypnotize himself some company. But he didn't dare. No matter what happened, he would never allow himself to be influenced like that. It could weaken his mind.

The most amusing moments were when Gin came in to tell him all of the funny occurances happening with the constantly changing events. For example, a mere five ryuka (and a cat, wasn't it?) were wreaking havoc on all of Soul Society. Even Abarai-kun had been defeated, which was very odd indeed. After all, how many ryuka do you know with the strength or sly to beat a leutenient-captain?

Gin had only laughed and said, "He's a fun one. I overheard some of the captured ones talking. Apparently the orange-haired one is Ichigo. Funny name. You'd think he had pink or red hair because of it." They'd had a good laugh at that.

But when Tosen visited, it was always bad news. This person was hospitalized, that person was betrayed. But worst of all was his recounting of the mismatched battle between poor little Hinamori and Captain Toshiro.

Before leaving, Aizen needed to burn some bridges. Leave no friends behind. With his good nature and his infectious smile, this was hard to do. But he needed no grudges, no people who would chase him into Hueco Mundo, Las Noches, and what lay beyond. And the shinigami most likely to do this was, without a doubt, Hinamori. His only hope was to make himself seem like as much of a bad guy as possible. If he simply betrayed Soul Society, she would chase after him. If he killed a few people, she would chase after him, if only to ask him why. So, he did the only thing he could think of.

He pitted her against he oldest friend, Toshiro.

"They almost came to a heated match," recalled Tosen, "But he knocked he out so that he could fight Gin. Smart move on Gin's part." Aizen only smiled, not revealing the truth, that he had ordered Gin to make sure the fight went smoothly.

But one thing that they always asked was the eternal question. "Why". Why are we doing this? Why must we hurt our allies? Why are we not permitted to tell anyone? And most of all, why us? These questions persisted, and Aizen knew, sooner or later, they would have to be answered. But for now, he told them that he himself didn't know. It would have to do.

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Ichimaru Gin hated the stupid people running Soul Society. Because of this he hated Kuchiki Bayakuya more than he hated Kurotsuchi Mayuri, and that was saying something. Creepy damn scientist, asking to "research" Shinso for "weapons development research". Bullshit. Shinigami didn't need anything but their zanpakuto when it came to weapons. Only he used bombs and artificial implants. Disgusting.

But getting back to Kuchiki, he couldn't stand royalty. Damn bastards ran everything, making people like him and Rangiku second-class citizens. They weren't even permitted to have an authentic marriage. Of course, that had nothing to do with Rangiku. Rangiku and marriage were two _completely_ separate thoughts. They had nothing to do with each other whatsoever. Right? Right.

No matter what, Gin needed to oust the royalty from their lofty position. This was probably one of the reasons Aizen let him participate it their little quest for the Royal Key. No matter what, if it meant that he and Rangiku were given the rights they so richly deserved, he would follow Aizen-sama into the depths of Hueco Mundo.

Little did he know quite how literal that statement would turn out to be.

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Tosen Kaname only wanted peace. Peace solved all problems. If there was total peace, everyone would be happy. Aizen promised peace. That was all he needed.

But now he was beginning to doubt the mighty Aizen Sosuke. Slowly but surely, something was worming it's way into his mind. Whispering tales of deceit, feeding him anger as an ambrosia, and mistrust as a fine wine. Some nights Tosen would have to lay himself down and convince his conscious that this _was_ the right path. He _was_ justice. And Aizen was _not_ in this for his own gain. This was about abolishing royalty, and converting all the hollows so that shinigami would have no more enemies. Then fighting would not be necessary. All would be well.

But his subconscious was never convinced. It always resolutely stated that Aizen only spoke to him because his shikai didn't affect Tosen. After all, a great plan can be ruined by one snag, and Tosen could always be that snag.

Tosen knew all this, but kept it quiet. Cornered it into a small area of his mind. He concluded that when they declared open war on Soul Society, then he would get worried.

Of course, he would also be worried if they allied themselves with the Vasto-lordes. He wasn't too worried about that though. Aizen seemed to be adamant about destroying them for some reason.

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"Good, good" said Urahara. "You're developing very quickly Kurosaki-kun. Tell you what, if you can get the basic concept of your energy-sword-blast thing down _before_ I have time to shoot you with mine, I'll let you in on a little secret." _Of course, he could never develop it in time, but it will send him down the right track. What should I reveal to him as a joke secret when he fails?_ mused Urahara thoughtfully, _I suppose I could tell him that Yoruichi is actually a miss, not a mister. Or should I just tell him that she's a hot chick in disguise? No, best idea ever. I'll tell him that Yoruichi is my lover, but I won't tell him that she's not a cat!_

"Stupid hat'n'clogs! I'll whip your ass!" shouted ichigo confidently. "What do you mean anyway?"

"Oh, you see, a secret is something two people share and don't tell any-"

"I know what a secret is you baka shopkeeper!" Ichigo yelled, "I meant what you mean by 'get the basic concept' of my attack."

"Oh, just be able to spit it out on command," said Urahara in a tired voice, "like this." Whipping Benihime around to bear against him, Urahara cried out "sing, Benihime", sending a large wave of blood-red energy straight at Ichigo, which he barely dodged.

"Okay, think," Ichigo said to himself. _It's probably a very simple concept. I'll bet it works in a similar way as his. Sing doesn't really seem to be up Zangetsu's alley, though. _Dodging another red shot, Ichigo continued to think. _The whole blast looks kind of like a crescent. Maybe it has something to do with the moon phases? The order could be something like "wax (or wane), Zangetsu". Argh, this is hurting my head. I'll just ask the old man himself. I'll need to buy myself some time to do it though._

Running around, Ichigo remembered the pit that he had used for the first section of his training. Slowly leading Urahara over to the pit, he flipped over a horizontal blast and feinted a low sword strike. Falling for it, Urahara leapt into the air, where Ichigo body-slammed him as hard as he could into the pit.

_Clever_, admitted Urahara to himself. _He's buying time to try to figure this out. Ah well. A pity he doesn't know about flash steps._ As he began to execute a shunpo, he stopped himself. _Maybe I should give him some extra time and do this the slow way. Who knows? He might get a decent idea about what he needs to do._

Taking a deep breath, he began to blow dummy gigai. It would take him longer to stack a pile of gigai up to the top than to simply climb, but this way had no adverse effects towards his energy levels. Except his cheeks might get cramped, and he wouldn't be able to make witty remarks while kicking Ichigo's ass. Oh well, small price to pay.

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Taking a deep breath, Ichigo sat down and began to meditate. He tried to remember how it felt to be in his mind, talking to Zangetsu. Emulating an old Buddhist TV show he had seen, he folded his legs into the lotus position and breathed rhythmically. In, out. In, out. Slllllooooooowwwwwly siiiiiiiinnnnnking into his subconscious.

His concentration was broken, however, when someone hit him on the head. "Oi, get up already" said a scratchy, yet deep voice.

Opening his eyes, he saw once again the world of his subconscious. But he didn't recognize the man in white standing in front of him. If you looked closely he even looked kinda like…

"The hell are you?" inquired Ichigo, "And where's the old man?"

"I'm right here, Ichigo," said Zangetsu from behind the white man. "And this is You"

"Who?"

"Me" said the white Ichigo, grinning.

"What?"

"I'm you, you fucking retard. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm _completely_ like you. For example, I can do this," taunted the white Ichigo, shooting off a blast from his copy of Zangetsu.

"What is that?" asked Ichigo, "I've used it, but I don't know how."

"Zangetsu?" begged the white Ichigo, "Can I, uh, 'tutor' him?"

Walking up to his little stand, Zangetsu calmly replied, "Feel free, he's all yours."

"Sweet," said the white Ichigo. He began to twirl Zangetsu by the cloth menacingly.

_Perfect_ thought Ichigo, smirking to himself, then suddenly he frowned. _Wait, why didn't he just tell me?_

"I don't think that just telling you will teach you anything. So we're gonna force you to use it out of desperation. Desperation caused by me beating the hell out of you."

_Crap_

END OF CHAPTER TWO

Any comments, questions, compliments, or suggestions are welcome.

-Jiece Reno

God permits U-turns


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